HC nod to terminate 23-week old foetus of rape survivor

The Karnataka High Court has permitted the termination of a 23-week-old foetus of a minor girl who survived rape after the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute submitted a medical examination report of the victim to the court.

The report states that the victim suffers from anaemia and the foetus had a serious abnormality known as bilateral open-lip schizencephaly, which is a rare congenital disorder of cerebral cortical development and is also characterised by seizures and developmental deficits in children. Thus termination of pregnancy is in the best interest of the victim, the report said.

Following this, the court permitted the petitioner to terminate her pregnancy and also asked the hospital concerned to preserve the terminated foetus for the purpose of conducting DNA test and analysis.

The court passed the directions while hearing a petition filed by the rape survivor represented by her mother. They had moved the court seeking directions to the respondent hospital to admit the petitioner and take necessary steps to terminate the pregnancy. The petitioner has stated that she was raped and sexually assaulted, which resulted in her pregnancy. When she was examined at the Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital, she was found to be 22-24 weeks pregnant.

The petitioner’s mother lodged an FIR at the Holalkere police station in Chitradurga district on February 13, 2019.

The petitioner has approached the court to protect her and act in her best interest by permitting her to terminate her pregnancy. The court also issued a notice to state legal services authority and sought their reply with regard to disbursement of funds to the petitioner.